


Story Time

by brownie_t



Series: Nyssara Family Fics [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Demon's Head, F/F, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, Head of the Demon, League of Assassins - Freeform, Light Angst, Minor Character Death, Nanda Parbat, Nyssara, Original Character Death(s), Sad with a Happy Ending, Star Wars References, spartacus reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-03
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-04-18 20:50:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4719977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brownie_t/pseuds/brownie_t
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Approximately 15 years in the future: Nyssara living in a cottage in the mountains of Tibet.<br/>(Nyssa killed Malcolm Merlyn quite some years ago and became Head of the Demon, is married to Sara and loves their life together.)<br/>Family story as Nyssara are having beautiful children, obviously. </p><p>I so hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed picturing it in my head and let it come to life. </p><p>Btw: to read more detailed about the mission Sara talks about, go check out 'Temptation' in my one shot collection - link will be right below :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Story Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Oceanobsession](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oceanobsession/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Do the Unthinkable](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4541742) by [brownie_t](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brownie_t/pseuds/brownie_t). 
  * Inspired by [Story Time. Nyssara family fic.](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/142595) by browniesthoughts edit. 



“Okay you little monsters, just one last story, alright? So, let me see…  
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess in a huuuuge castle, protected by many, many warriors. But she wasn’t weak or scared or anything like that – she was a warrior herself…” Sara looked over to the other side of the room and caught Nyssa’s slightly amused gaze, like always feeling love warming her heart, a comfortable calm settling in her stomach and –

“Hey Ma? We know you’re talking about Mum! Please, no princess love story, give us some real action stuff!”

Sara quickly turned her head back to the boy sitting cross-legged on the carpet in front of her. Blushing only a little, she laughed and reached over to gently push a strand of dark hair out of their oldest son’s face. They knew of her weakness for sweet fantasy stories about her wife all too well. Smiling, she said:

“Kaseem, you know that Sammy’s sitting there with you right? He’s not that old yet…”

“I am very mature for my current age.” Samuel stated; his firm, eloquent language style clearly adopted from Nyssa.

Even though he was only six years old, his eyes showed wisdom and his thoughts were rational and educated. He was smart and quick to pick up things he saw his parents do or say and he had an extraordinary understanding of both beauty and efficiency deeply imbedded in his personality.  
Sara and Nyssa were very proud of the boy, though often times they wondered when he would outthink them. Sometimes they would lie awake at night in their chamber, moonlight falling through the windowpanes and illuminating their silhouettes, as they talked quietly about Sammy’s lack of interest in playing with the other kids, running around and just being a child. But their concerns, uttered softly in loving Arabic words at night, did not influence their behavior around their children. Samuel was a great kid with a beautiful mind and soul, his interests varied and reaching from music to history to the art of meditation and fighting tactics. He could already read and write, play the harp, beat Nyssa every time when they played chess, switch between English and Arabic almost as fast as his older brother did and never for a second lost interest in learning new words. He also recently had started analyzing his brother’s fighting techniques, which had already led to quite a few threatening comments vocalized due to anger and hurt. He loved his big brother, though, and most of the time the two of them were thick as thieves. Kaseem had made it his goal to take him in like a young padawan, to show him the world and teach him to get strong enough to live life unharmed and Samuel admired his brother, at least as long as they didn’t fight over who were to pick the TV program for the evening. Samuel wasn’t an introvert or a lonely genius or some misunderstood child prodigy. He was both their beloved son and a sometimes slightly annoying brother, just as brothers were supposed to be, and the fact that they had adopted him five years ago did not make him any less of their son.  
They had been convinced that Sara wasn’t able to carry a child, after she had lost two children within the first few months of her pregnancies. It had been a dark time, long nights without sleep and with too many unanswered questions. They had always wanted a brother or sister for her son and the fact that Sara felt like she was the reason why Kaseem would grow up alone ate away at Sara’s self-esteem and their marriage. Nyssa had done her best to be there for her little family, being as strong as she could, but she, too, had just lost two children within the course of a few months, even though she hadn’t carried them on her own. At the same time, she couldn’t afford another pregnancy due to her being Head of the Demon and having a particularly stressful time full of responsibilities regarding League issues as well. Too often they had felt on the edge of breaking into pieces until they met this sweet one-year-old with attentive, dark-green eyes and dark, curly hair and suddenly everything had fallen into place as if he was the piece missing to their puzzle. They had taken him in and loved him as their own from the first minute, without exceptions or doubts. Today, he was a happy and curious boy with a lot of questions and a brilliant future ahead of him.

The happiness and curiosity surrounding Samuel was also what people in the village usually remembered of Kaseem. While he clearly got the good looks from Nyssa, in his personality he resembled younger and more innocent Sara. There was a spark in his deep brown eyes, love of life and enthusiasm about every new thing he learned about the world showing in his smile, which was just as bright and winning as Sara’s.  
Many times he had come home from the souq with his pockets full of sweets, nuts, roasted almonds, dried fruits or fresh dates without having paid for them because he knew exactly how to flirt shamelessly with the street vendors and elderly ladies selling their goods. His allurements were a fine mixture of innocence, childishness, soulful questions and light hands, never hesitating to pitch in and help. His eyes were bright and he knew a lot of things about handiwork, crafting, cooking and managing a household – things he picked up while twisting people around his little finger. Other than that, the training with his mothers had begun to pay off, as within the last months, he had developed a certain elegance and fortitude, showing in the way he moved or stood upright. He loved to stand in the middle of a crowd and watch people attend their businesses, while taking in the vibrant life, colors, scents and conversations surrounding him, later on at home describing his impressions vividly and abuzz. But as much as he loved people, he appreciated being alone in a room with his ma, practicing body control and elegance with aerial silk and fighting with a bõ staff, his dark, shoulder long hair tied back in a bun and his eyes following the blonde’s every move, eager to learn.  
Nyssa sometimes managed to sneak into the gym and marveled at the view of her wife and their eldest floating in the air, practicing a particularly surprising entrance with the black silk, spinning, falling, catching themselves just in time. At the beginning, it had sometimes made Nyssa’s stomach turn to imagine her beautiful son slipping and actually falling from the ceiling and it had taken her a lot of self-control to let Sara train Kaseem. Not because she didn’t trust her Beloved or their son but because of an irrational fear that something could happen to the boy.  
But then again, she had been training him in archery and hand-to-hand combat since he turned seven, how was that less dangerous than showing an almost nine-year-old how to fly..? And now that his 10th birthday was in two weeks time, he grew especially excited because he couldn’t wait for officially becoming an apprentice of the League.

 

Nyssa shook her head to clear her thoughts. She was leaning against the wooden kitchen counter in their little but comfortable cottage in close proximity to the League’s headquarters in Nanda Parbat. The small plastic container in her hand was pleasantly warm by now and she opened the plastic cap with the same hand holding the baby bottle. Readjusting the grip on the little child on her left hip, she made her way over to her wife and sons in the living area, gently rocking the girl in her arm until she sat down on the far end of the sofa to not disturb story time. Bright blue eyes looked up at her, pleading for the milk inside the bottle with the canary print on it. Nyssa couldn’t fight a smile when she remembered how Sara’s eyes widened and were full of adoration for the little accessory Nyssa had brought home from Starling City’s most popular baby shop. Laurel had insisted on buying the plastic bottle for her soon to be born niece, together with a matching baby-soother and bib. She had visited twice since the birth and though it didn’t seem to be possible, she looked even prouder than Sara whenever the tiny human sucked her thumb or slept in her arms.  
Myriam now actively reached for her food and struggled against Nyssa’s protective arm around her waist, a little sob forming in her throat. Nyssa chuckled and could already spot a huge resemblance between her wife and her daughter regarding a change of mood when being hungry. Other than that, her blonde hair and crystal blue eyes were a dead giveaway of who was her biological mother, and even her dimples were exactly as heart-warming as Sara’s. She was an adorable 9-month-old and probably the most beautiful human being Nyssa had ever laid her eyes upon. Whenever the Demon’s Head looked at the miniature version of Sara, she was almost one hundred percent certain that her heart was not big enough for all the love she felt for her little family. She loved Sara with all her soul, their boys were the most precious gift she had ever received and their baby girl was the sweetest toddler they knew. She slept through a surprisingly high number of nights, she was as curious as her brothers and joining her on her journey of exploring the world was eye-opening in the very sense of the word. Kaseem and Samuel adored and worshipped their little sister and were very protective of her. Whenever the boys heard only the smallest cry escaping Myriam’s lips, they left whatever they had just been doing and ran to check whether she was alright. She would grow up more safely than any other child in the world ever had before.

The little sob had the same effect as a cry and immediately, three heads turned towards Nyssa and the baby.

“Is Mira alright? Is she hurt?” Kaseem asked, his voice clearly showing worry.

“Mira is fine, Kaseem, she’s just hungry”, Sara hastened to calm the boy and sent a look of awe over to her wife and daughter, who was now pretty pleased with the canary bottle held firmly in her little hands.

“I am sorry, love, I didn’t mean to disturb the story”, Nyssa apologized and signaled Sara to just go on, so the boys’ attention could return to her ma telling them about a mission.

“No problem at all! Okay then, where were we…? Ah yes, so. I am, as her assistant, standing next to the stage, keeping an eye on our target and giving your mum info in between two songs. All the time, she’s dancing and singing and looking good and just as I hand her a bottle of water, all professional obviously, the man next to Verrazano suddenly gets up and – a little too casually in my opinion – leaves the room. What he doesn’t take with him, however, is his all black suitcase.”

Sara had regained their sons’ attention and lowered her voice to sound more dramatic.

“As I see all of this happening out of the corner of my eye, while actually looking up to Nyssa on stage, my mind does its job and I put two and two together, run on stage mid-song, and shout ‘EVERYBODY DOWN!’“  
\- Samuel jerked at the sudden increase of volume in the story –  
“and of course, I just act out of pure instinct, trying to protect your mum and I throw myself in front of her the moment the bomb in the suitcase explodes and the blast knocks both of us off our feet, with a force that makes us actually fly through the air…”  
\- wide eyes were staring at the blonde assassin, spellbound and a little scared by the story –  
“Well, long story short: our target Verrazano got killed by the explosion… he obviously had made many people angry. Your mum was fine, though, but a little mad because I shouldn’t have shielded her from the blast, and so on and so forth… you know how she can be” Sara laughed lightly and Nyssa could feel her lips curl up into a smirk.

Under their aliases they had been examined by the ambulance and Sara had had to spend a night at a nearby hospital. Not because she hadn’t been able to handle the pain of a broken rib and some cuts and bruises on her back, but because of remaining in their covers. And while at first, she had been a little worried about her betrothed, Nyssa knew her Beloved was alright when Sara, a smug expression on her face, had told her how extremely hot she had looked in that red dress, figure-hugging neck holder cut and plunging V-neckline showing off just the right amount of skin of just the right bodyparts, while singing and dancing, and that she had been tempted to lose focus on the mission more than once.

  
Nyssa cleared her throat at the thought of the conversation she can still clearly picture in her head, word for word, even though it had happened almost twelve years ago. Myriam’s eyes were shut now, her mouth closed around the feeding bottle teat and apart from the sound of her content sucking, silently emptying the baby bottle, a pleased smile playing around the corners of her lips and tiredness clearly already rushing through her veins.

“Okay boys, let’s call it a day, alright? It’s late and we’re gonna be up early tomorrow morning”, Sara told their sons. “Did you brush your teeth already, Sammy?”, she asked while getting up from the sofa, offering both their sons a hand and helping them back on their feet. Samuel nodded and walked over to Nyssa, sat down next to her for only a few seconds, hugging her tightly, before kissing Myriam’s forehead and whispering a tired “goodnight” to his mum. Sara was waiting for him in the doorway and he grabbed her hand when he passed her. Together, they disappeared in the back of the little house.

“Umm, mum… Can you maybe… put me to bed today?”, Kaseem reluctantly asked and Nyssa smiled lovingly at her son. He had grown so much in the last few months, both mentally and physically, and it had become a rare occasion that they were actually allowed to put him to bed.

“Of course, _shamsi_. I will be right there”, Nyssa promised and watched Kaseem follow Sara and Samuel towards the sleeping areas.

The Head of the Demon sighed happily about their present life together, images of so many years of anger and desperation flooding her mind for only a few seconds, images of all the times she had lost Sara, just to swear to get justice and to finally find her, only to see the same tragedy unfold again - loss and new beginnings. Images of her Beloved curled up on their bed, tears running down her face, speechless and shaking, not able to tell Nyssa that she, again, lost her baby. Nyssa had known anyway and seeing Sara in that state of complete desperation, ashamed and broken, had crushed her heart. Images of her wife on the phone with Laurel, shock and despair distorting her face, her agonizing cry resounding from the walls of Nanda Parbat when her sister told her about the shooting at the precinct which cost five men’s lives. Images of how Kaseem couldn’t stop crying at his grandpa’s funeral, barely old enough to comprehend that he would never go and watch a baseball game with him again, Samuel next to him staring at the flag covering the coffin, being too young to really understand and yet not saying a word throughout the whole ceremony, just to grab his ma’s hand afterwards, stating: “Grandpa is in heaven now.” They had been confronted with too many tough times, had tried to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, often almost collapsing under the pressure of all the weight of their own little lives already.

But those times were long gone and without further ado, Nyssa shook the unwelcome memories and got up to put Myriam into her crib and kiss her boys goodnight.

 

* * *

 

When they sat on the sofa later on, alone and content with the day, Sara snuggled closer to Nyssa and let her head rest on the brunette’s lap. Yawning, she relaxed into Nyssa’s body as her wife started fondling her light blonde curls and scalp. Nyssa lovingly looked down at her Beloved who was not an ounce less beautiful than when she had first laid eyes on her almost twenty years ago. Even though Sara had decided not to make use of the Lazarus Pit to remain her young appearance, she merely wore wrinkles, only around her eyes and mouth one could detect years of happiness and laughter. And even though Nyssa knew Sara’s body at least as well as her own, she still couldn’t get enough of the freckles decorating her beautiful features.  
They sat in silence until Sara, cracking one crystal blue eye open, mischievously grinned: “I know you were thinking about how hot I thought you were in that red dress and about how amazingly you looked after my health that night.”

And still, after all these years, Nyssa could feel her heart drop and breath catch in her throat at the impact of Sara’s words and the vivid memory made her lift Sara’s head from her lap, graciously get up and signal Sara to come follow her into their chamber.

 

**Author's Note:**

> *souq: arabic word for persian equivalent 'bazaar' - marketplace


End file.
